Splish splash

I like to think of this as some sort of redneck backyard riviera. To add to the redneckness of it all, he swam in a swim diaper alone.

Jones, however, couldn't care less about any of that. He loved it! We passed the time yesterday afternoon waiting for Trey to come home by swimming and playing with stickers. Jones was so happy to see him, and so was I. Three nights used to not seem so long. I will be happy when we have a relaxing weekend... I am sure there will be one in about 15 years, right? In the meantime, I am trying to enjoy the busy that is our life!

Summer meals

As it turns out, I am not a gourmet cook. To complicate matters, Trey and I have very different food preferences. He is a meat man and starch man. Doesn't care for green foods. I could live off of humus and vegetables. And mexican. And ice cream.

And then there's Jones.

The kid likes to eat. But not just anything. He has expensive taste: Greek yogurt, fresh fruit (currently on a blueberry and kiwi kick) and cheese. The only vegetable he will eat comes in a pouch. You know, the baby food that is about $1.50 a pop. A buy them in bulk because it makes me feel better about his lack of vegetables. And meat? Only if it's ground very finely and in something like spaghetti or tacos.

As you can see, this poses a problem for meal planning.

Throw in busy schedules and the hot Mississippi summers, and I pretty much avoid the oven for months.

So I am on a quest: light, fresh, easy summer meals that is pleasing to my whole family.

Enter Pinterest.

Goodness, I love Pinterest.

I saw a recipe for poppyseed chicken salad. All three of us love poppyseed chicken casserole, so I gave it a shot.

Poppyseed Chicken Salad
Source: myrecipes.com

I loved it. Trey thought it was good, but he was hungry two hours later. (I think he would have preferred it on a sandwich with a bag of chips on the side.) Jones picked through it, ate the fruit and some of the chicken then demanded "booooberry and yaaaguuurt".

I considered it a success.

You can find the recipe HERE.

I altered it a bit for ease and personal taste:

I used Tyson pre-cooked, pre-chopped chicken.  I added diced green and red grapes, strawberries and chopped pecans, then stirred in the Poppyseed dressing.  I found that the fat free dressing was super watery, but the light version looked creamier with only 1 gram of fat. (I think it was Ken's Steakhouse brand) It was a good choice.  Kinda tangy. I just added enough until it looked good.  Then I put a big scoop over a bed of romaine lettuce. 

It was really good.  A different take on the traditional chicken salad and it took 10 minutes to have the meal on the table. 

So there you go. Not exactly mind-blowing or revolutionary, but it's a summer meal.  Would be yummy by the pool with crackers or pita.

Happy summer eating.  Hope you stay away from the oven as well.

Stay-cation

Who ever coined that term? I don't know, but I like it. Because on vacation you don't clean if you don't want to, you eat what pleases you, and you lounge. I like to lounge.  And on stay-cations you get to do those things plus sleep in your own bed. Score one for me.

I declared this long weekend a stay-cation since a proper summer vacation is not likely in our immediate future.


We spent a good deal of time at the Country Club. Jones was super nervous at first and would declare "this way!" and point to the chair where he would then demand a snack.

But by Sunday afternoon, he was comfortable again in the water and had a blast. He would yell "kick, kick, kick" the whole time.

Hooray for summer days.

Saturday morning we woke up and drove to the Buffalo Park to look at the animals. Jones has a deep appreciation for farm animals. He loves Charlotte's Web and carries a plastic cow with him most of the time. So the Buffalo Park seemed like a grand idea.

It. Was. Hot.

If you thought for a second that monkeys, giraffes, kangaroos, and goats smelled nice with zero breeze and 100% humidity, you are dead wrong.

Jones didn't seem to mind. He loved the animals. He even fed the goats and mini horses. And he still talks about the giraffes.

I am sure we were a sight at Chick-fil-a after our little adventure. We were hot, sweaty, and smelled like wet cows. Oh well.

Then on Monday we met my parents for a little Memorial Day breakfast downtown. Followed by the park and a little playtime in the fountains on campus. Then afternoon at the pool.

Oh glorious four day weekend. Come back to me soon.

To top the weekend off, we are SEC champs. Seriously, in the words of jones: goooo buuuldogs!!! Both of my sisters were there for the weekend So much fun.

a deal and a suit.

What I love is a good deal.

What I don't love is a swimsuit.

I am in the middle of the great summer battle - one-piece or two? Tankini?


At what age is a bikini no longer appropriate?

If Trey and I are on the beach somewhere (let's pretend, for a second, that I am at Seaside right now), I would happily sport a bikini.

But other times? Swim lessons with the 2 year old?

Not to mention my husband's career.  Swim get-togethers are sure to be in my future. 

A bikini? Not sure that's totally appropriate in his line of work.

So, I am on the quest for a cute one-piece. 

Yack.  I hate how I look in a one-piece.  But what's a motha to do?

I have pinned a few fashionable choices, but this frugal girl can't justify spending oodles for a swimsuit. 

Call me cheap.  I like to call it financially savvy.


Anyway, I get a daily email with coupons and online deals. 

In today's email, I noticed that Target was having a one-day online sale (plus free shipping.....the only way  I will buy online) on a couple of one-piece bathing suits.

I totally bought one. 

For $15. 

I hope it's not total crap.  A $15 swimsuit has everything going for it to be total crap.

 I will let you know. 

But in the meantime, if you are out there searching for a deal, you may want to check it out. 

Here is the one I picked out:

Cute? I hope so.

Here's to swimming in your mothering years....

oxford wedding weekend

Well, mark Oxford off of Jones' places to travel list. He made it in style. It was his longest road trip yet. We could not have asked him to be a better traveler. Sweet kid. Trey and I did decide we need a bigger car. I swear we packed our entire home. This was our first night away somewhere besides to stay with my parents, who have a crib, swing, baby stuff, etc. Trey says if we get a bigger car it will be a 1987 Chrysler mini-van with faux wood paneling just so we can say we went through that stage in our lives. S'cuse me? I think not.

Anyway...back to the trip...


My dear, dear childhood friend was married this weekend at what was undoubtedly the sweetest wedding I have ever been to. Every detail was perfect and very much reflected Susanna's personality. It was an eleven am wedding so the reception was brunch. You know I love brunch. Mimosas and shrimp and grits? Yes, please. My favorite little detail (besides the amazing bluegrass band that played during the wedding) was the fact that her guest book was her favorite cookbook. She is amazingly gifted in the kitchen and loves food and wine, so it was so fitting for her guest to sign the pages of her favorite book. How creative. I love personal details in weddings. Hers was full of it! I hate to say that I didn't get one picture of the two of us. But Tricia was the photographer, so I am hoping I can get some of her amazing shots. I will let you know when the pictures are up - I am sure they are incredible.


Here is a pic of me and the bride at my baby shower. It's the most recent pic I have of us:
I love this girl.

I did get a picture of Trey and me before the rehearsal dinner. (one of about 4 that we have of just us since Jones arrived)



So not only did Jones get to meet Susanna, he also got to meet other very important people in my life: The Cantrells and Russell. It was a pretty big weekend for the little guy.


Here are some pictures of our very short visit with Luke, Amanda, Kate and soon-to-be Preston. (PS - Jones showed his love of Oxford by poo-pooing through his outfit while hanging out with them on the square)


How cute is she? and that outfit? precious.

We stayed the weekend with Russell and Callie. Long overdue. Being with close friends does my soul good. We miss those two daily!

The boys discussing something very important, I am sure.


Uncle Russ getting some quality time with Jones.


And this picture is just funny. My parents brought back this hat for Jones from The Varsity Grill in Atlanta. It looks like Jones has eaten one too many burgers from there. My little chunky monkey!

mmmmm...finger-lickin' good.

Speaking of my sweet parents, a big thank you is in order. They were planning all along to come to Oxford for the wedding and to keep Jones during the dinner on Friday night. Well, my grandmother had a somewhat last minute surgery in Jackson on Friday. My sweet daddy drove my Nana to Jackson on Friday morning at 3 am, stayed during the surgery, drove back to starkville, got my mom, drove to Oxford, kept Jones, woke up the next morning and drove back to Jackson to stay with Nana. What sweet, sweet parents I have! I told them we could figure something else out, but they wouldn't hear of it - they insisted on coming anyway. I have the absolute best parents. And Jones was very happy to see his grandaddy and lita. Thanks, mama and daddy. You are the best.

Nana is back home and doing great, by the way. God hears our prayers all the time! He is constantly looking after us.

And finally, I am asking for prayers for an old friend. We went to school K-12 together, cheered together for years, and went to church together our entire childhood. She is a wife to a wonderful man and mother of two precious boys, ages 2 years and 8 weeks. She found out last week that she has cancer. Please include Amanda in your prayers. I know God hears our prayers and still performs miracles! Thanks, blog friends!

hello, august

please don't stay long.

I hate to be all negative Nancy on you, but this is my least favorite month of the year. It's hot. Really hot. There is not even one fun holiday. And a new one for me, the peak of hurricane season. Welcome to the coast, Heather. The only good thing I can see about August is that it is one step closer to football season and October, two of my most favorite times of the year.

With that being said, get a load of this chunk of love:

A bit sleepy during his bath last night.

couple of things

1) Kristen, Laura and Henry are here while Trey is at a high school church retreat (The Happening. Wonderful!) I wish they lived closer to me.


2) We decided it would be just a brilliant idea to delay nap time for a three year old and a 3 month old for a trip to Target. Why did we think this was smart? It lead to the following...


3) Decaf soy skinny caramel iced latte from the Target Starbucks. Generally speaking, I shy away from drinks with more than two adjectives, but I felt like I needed a pick me up in the middle of our target trip. And since I can't have caffeine or dairy (or a grita, for that matter) I opted for this cold treat. And it was good. Really good. I just told myself there was caffeine in it and instantly went to my happy place .


4) It is much too hot for children (and adults) to be out shopping/running errands. After loading Jones in and out of the car a couple of times, I needed a second shower (or a grita, for that matter. I see a pattern here). 110 degree heat index. Stop it.


5) Is the recession over? From the looks of no tax shopping weekend, I would say so. People came out of the woods for this. I bought some socks and Spanx. How exciting.

6) I am now at home with Jones and Henry while Kristen and Laura fight the lines at the outlet mall. Banana Republic and J. Crew just couldn't bring me to that heat again. The boys are both napping peacefully. I am not far behind them.


7) I weighed Jones today by using the ever-scientific method of holding him while I weigh myself. If I calculated correctly, he is upwards of 17 lbs. Do I have an abnormally large child? My tiny 6 lb. baby is no more. He has 4 rolls before you get to his knees, which Kristen pointed out are nothing but a few dimples in the middle of his legs. I love a chubby baby.


That ended up being more than a couple of things.


Here is a quick picture of Jones and I visiting Trey this morning at The Happening (which happens to be in Gulfport this time, but he is sleeping at the church all weekend.) Look how cute Jones' shirt is. A one-time-wear monogrammed shirt seemed a bit overboard for Trey. Whatever. I mean, how precious.


And here is a snap shot of Jones' first trip to Target. This was before he demanded (very loudly) to be held the whole time and before Henry announced to the store he needed to go number 2 RIGHT. NOW. But that's neither here nor there. Look how cute he is:

And, finally, Jones and Henry. Just because they are precious cousins:

our little fish

We took Jones swimming at Trey's parent's house for the first time the other evening. He LOVED it! He was in awe by everything he saw. And I was in awe by his cute little belly in his seersucker trunks.

June 16